Low in the southern sky, the midday sun casts long shadows across the Kansas prairie. The sunlight streams down soft and golden as the winter day speeds toward an early sunset.
Eight of us lounged around the table, candlelight flickering on crumpled napkins and cracker crumbs. It was the tail end of our yearly holiday party for our neighbors, and our guests – ranging from 30-somethings to 60-somethings – seemed reluctant to leave. Nor did we want them to. Swapping stories and laughing together, though we barely know each other, seemed the most important thing we could do at that moment.
What a year we’ve had in Newton! I never expected when I ran for City Commission that I would be the one to be mayor the year of our Sesquicentennial celebration. I have pinched myself on more than occasion to make sure this is all real.
When I was elected president of Kansas Farm Bureau (KFB) earlier this month, it was an incredible honor and a very humbling experience. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to adequately express my gratitude for those who supported my candidacy, but I’m excited to work with our members to advance KFB’s mission to strengthen agriculture through advocacy, education and service.
A simple wish to be free from harm is not something that we are all granted at this time. Not all of us are free from the obligation to engage in actions that harm others either.
Last week, the Kansas State Board of Education heard a report from their staff encouraging them to promote Kansas joining the Interstate Teacher Mobility Compact. Similar to states across the country, Kansas schools are experiencing growing vacancies statewide.
Hello, dear readers, and welcome back to the continuation of our monthly letters column. You’ve been keeping our inboxes full, so we’re diving right in.
Avid supporters of coal, oil, and gas (and opponents of wind and solar energy, but I repeat myself) seem convinced that they’ve got the ultimate gotcha arguments in “intermittency” and “energy density.” They’re right, but not in quite the way they seem to think.
The Respect for Marriage Act (RMA) provides stronger federal safeguards for married same-sex couples in Kansas. Bipartisan majorities passed it through Congress and President Joe Biden recently signed it into law.
Are they crazy? At the last city commission meeting it appeared to me that most of the commission are determined to raise Newton’s water rates in January 2023. With the rate of inflation being the highest in forty years our commissioners appear to be blind to the plain Newton citizens are currently having to deal with higher prices for food, gas and electricity.